Oiji Cafe
by Venomous Macabre
Summary: It's happened! Our great Yukari Tanizaki has been fired, but with the help of a friend of Nyamo's, she starts a restaraunt called Oiji Cafe. When the old gang comes upon her now hiring sign, what kind of chaos will come of it? Rated T
1. Now Hiring!

Hey guys! I hadn't expected to finish this today, but I'm happy nonetheless. I expect the series will be updated on a regular basis with the new schedule I'm imposing on myself with a threat from a friend to help the motivation. Anyway, I hope you enjoy. This will be much different than that of my regular fanfics as this'll be more on a comedy basis. Also, they won't be very keenly connected unless I mention otherwise.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own a character mentioned in this story unless stated otherwise (today is… Akira Kinyota!). They belong to Kiyohiko Azuma and ADV Films. Thank you!

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"Oi, Yomi!"

She held the sign, a stark white with cursive scarlet letters, imprinting the words, _'Now Hiring' _with a feral grin, much contrast to her friend's deep, skeptical frown. Oh, she knew very well the glasses-clad girl was still sore with her, but no, that was soon going to change, she knew it! Yomi was never mad at her for very long and Tomo knew it, oh so well. Spending almost the entirety of your life with one person can get you to learn many things, the pair no exception to the rule. It was often a mutual annoyance between the two more than anything else, but their friendship stood despite the many arrows.

The brunette stared at the sign for a moment before looking over at the building that was the newest target in their job search. It was just a small restaurant in a shopping center closer to the outskirts, a place that held an odd familiarity to the wild cat, she just couldn't place where. The walls were just as white as the rest of the area buildings, the only thing that seemed originated by the owner was the messy sign in black calligraphy, reading, _'Oiji Café.' _ The windows were large in the front, wooden double-doors standing in between with an open sign with the same messy writing. In fact, the now hiring sign seemed to be the only neat piece of writing to the place and she wondered if that meant there were two owners or something.

"Well, if we don't get hired, we can at least get a bite to eat," she suggested with a grin that turned cheesy, shrugging her shoulders. "I'm starvin'!" Her friend rolled her eyes in response, probably because they only ate an hour earlier before coming here. "What? I gotta run on somethin'!"

"I can only imagine," and with that, she moved over to the doors, pushing them open as a small bell rang above them. However, it only echoed throughout the room without an answer. The room wafted with scents of fresh, navy carpeting that seemed recently vacuumed by the lack of very much dirt from sneakers or something. A podium stood in front of the door with a fresh plant that looked to only be watered a moment ago and a chalk board with the words, _'Please wait to be seated' _scribbled onto the black surface. The tables were mostly circular with four chairs set for each out on the rectangular room except for the booths that lined the light burgundy walls, darkened by the only lighting of candles and the sunshine outside. A bar was set at the left side with dark wooden works and many assortments of alcohol displayed behind it in many cabinets, Tomo's eyes growing wide with interest in an instant. Paintings of different scenery hang the walls with fresh greenery, much like the one displayed in the front with the podium. Brightly colored double-doors were placed in the back, her guess where the kitchen would be.

The next thing to catch her eye brought a large smile to her lips. A wide cardboard box was placed lazily on one of the round tables, filled with an assortment of crafting supplies and the wildcat easy glided over to the object with interest. She began to search through its contents vigorously, looking for one item in particular. A cackled escaped her as her hands brought up the fruit of her search, the crimson-colored sharpie that she bet did the sign in the front. With a light hum, she made her way over to the bar table before Yomi stopped her.

"What are you doing, Tomo?" She turned to her companion with narrowed eyes and a devious smirk, knowing that it would be the brunette on edge. She uncapped it as the girl stepped forward, presenting the challenge with great confidence of her abilities. Yomi was too far away now to stop her and let's face it; the impulse was just too much to leave alone. Her best friend edged closer, a glare quickly forming on her face, but no, Tomo could only smile in triumphant in return, just about to mark the table edge until a hand quickly latched onto her wrist first, yanking her back away from her goal.

"I don't think so, idiot!"

She recognized the voice very easily, whipping around to get a jab to her old friend, but very much like the swimmer, Kagura easily moved out of the wave before delivering a chop to the back of the girl's head. In the comical fashion that was often accompanied with their lives, she dropped to the floor with a groan and the swimmer stood over her with a smile of triumph, mocking the expression that was on her face just a moment earlier. "The hell you doing here, huh?" Tomo questioned in mock-annoyance, sitting at her knees while rubbing her hand at the lump, wincing slightly. "Thought you were doing well in your last job. With Sakaki, right?"

"What? You expect me to work there forever? Sakaki's here too." The two had spent most of their time together after transferring from the veterinary school. None of them had really mentioned their thoughts about it before, but they often thought that the cool girl was a bit too queezy in the stomach to be doing that kind of work. It was a bit similar to their own situation except Yomi and her were living together instead of attending the same school. "Why you here? Screwed you and Yomi over on a job again?"

The wildcat opened her mouth to retort, but her friend had beaten her to the punch, "She brought Osaka with us in the firing too." Well, it was true, but the kansai girl was on her accord. The two had made a note that telemarketing jobs were not very fitting for the wildcat. It wasn't her fault that it was possibly the most boring job you could ever possibly posses in your life. She had only decided to liven it up a little bit one day with Osaka (who had already been yelled twice by their boss for sleeping at her small cubicle; she knew that the girl need something to do) by using the phones to prank call a few people. They had even used Yomi's desk a few times when the glasses-clad girl would take a few trips somewhere, which had brought upon her name into the situation. How was she supposed to know that the phones kept records of what was being said on a computer? She was just bored!

"Telemarketing is for the dead," she commented with a huff as Kagura merely roared with laughter at their own bad luck. A lot of jobs were about the same unfortunately, so it certainly didn't suit well while juggling between classes and rent. However, she hadn't tried her luck with waitressing and it was more in direct contact with people, Tomo's specialty. It only took a moment after the fact that she realized that something was missing—or somebody. "So, where's Sakaki?" It was then the trio heard a loud crash deep inside the kitchen and yells of shock and anger.

"Yukari you can't serve that… that… THING!!"

Only one thought passed her mind as she heard the scream: _'What…?' _It was a wonder exactly why the name would ever be spoken here, but the wildcat has some pretty good guesses of what was going on, especially as the tall, sullen woman slid out of from the kitchen with a look pure horror, the blood completely drained for her face. At seeing Sakaki, she joined into Kagura's fit of hystericals, even as the later seemed a bit more puzzled now. "Who'd thought Yukari-chan be fired before Kimura?" While the thought was absolutely HILARIOUS in her mind, her friends seemed a bit—distraught to hear the apparent news. Yomi even turned to leave, gritting her teeth at the thought, but as her hand fell to the door, a voice drifted into the room:

"Hey! Where are you going?!" A sigh escaped the brunette's lips, somewhere around the words of _'Shit'_ before finally turning around to face the familiar smirk that was oh so accustomed to Yukari's, the former English teacher, face. And then, high school started all over again.

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It was a very difficult thought to conceive that after just two years—TWO YEARS—she had seen the many faces of her most memorable class, which was really saying something considering her attention span. The group was all here except for the small, naïve Chiyo-chan and then it would be just like teaching in high school. However, they were all 21 one now and looking for jobs where she, Yukari Tanizaki, just happened to be the employer that determined their fates. It was almost too amusing to bear, a small cackle breaking into the odd band of college students, earning their confusion.

How could she not entertain the idea of hiring them? There they were, plopped down in a fashion that seemed rather unfamiliar, but overtime, eventually the group would have to pick their regulars. It was all divided at the table, beginning with the most out there of them, Ayumu "Osaka" Kasuga, adorned with her half-dazed/half-attentive look that she would often yell upon back when she was lecturing them of Europe and American culture. She sat in between her fellow bonklers on the carpet floor, to the left the wonderful and self-eccentric wildcat, Tomo Takino and the right, the equally as energetic and athletic swimmer, Kagura. The trio had brought the most turmoil to her classroom, but equally as much entertainment. She immediately decided that their place would not be in the kitchen, but on the floor instead. Then, upon the table right behind the wild swimmer was almost the complete contrast of the woman, the silent cat-lover Sakaki, her face giving the ploy of an attentive woman, but there was always that far-away look in her dark navy eyes. At the other edge of the table was the serious, knowledgeable glasses clad Yomi Mizuhara with just as much attention as her current annoyance seems to be.

Yukari wondered if this was a reunion show of her time as a teacher and with a light smile plastered on her lips, she began, "Well, I never thought I would see those losers again." It was earned with a collective face fault, a satisfying result to her words, nodding her head as she rubbed her hands together. "So, what? Did you all miss me that badly?" Another collective face fault—except for two. The wonderful Osaka and Tomo graciously raising their hands, completely missing the word play contained inside. "I see you two still have picked up your feet—or your habits for that matter."

Tomo had been wise enough to lower her hand into a narrow glare, but the Osakan girl seemed unfazed by the insult, keeping her hand up much like it were in the classroom (damnit, she missed that job). "Okay, let me get this straight now: stop doing that," Osaka nodded in affirmation, but you could never tell with that girl, "Now, what the hell is it?"

"Are ya workin' here too?" And a long awkward stare was exchanged between the two as Yukari felt the need to smash the country girl's head into the table behind her, but no, she kept her impulses at bay and merely continued the staring contest before finally Kagura tugged at Osaka's sleeve, muttering:

"She's not working with us, Osaka. Yukari's the owner!"

The long silence continued before the girl's eyes finally lit up in realization, nodding her head in assurance that she understood. "Now, do any of you cook?" A collective stare was brought upon by the question and she idly placed her hands to her hips, huffing, "Come on! How you people fucking eat?!"

It took a moment, but finally a hand rose, Yomi with a bit of an uncertain look. It was quickly shot down as Tomo grabbed her wrist and yanked it down. "No, no! Don't make them suffer too!" Naturally, that had the stares on the pair as the wildcat glared upon her companion.

"Well, who else is going to do the cooking?" the taller woman retorted and the shorter on seemed to genuinely think about it, even releasing the girl with a contemplative tilt of the head, trying to come up with a solution. Well, it would seem that nobody knew how to cook these days, even Yukari herself. The owner tapped her head thoughtfully for a solution.

Just then, the doors to the kitchen flapped open and the familiar figure of the restaurant's first employee teetered into the room, balancing another box of various items that Yukari hardly cared to remember. He was a bit of a short boy, dressed in a white dress shirt and black jeans, matching color of his messy short hair. His almond eyes were bright compared to his pale skin. After a brief moment of struggle, he set the box on the table next to them with a relieved sigh. It was only when he slinked into one of the wooden chairs did his eyes finally spot them. The boy bolted from his seat in attention then, rubbing the back of his neck. "Oh, hi there," he greeted as he recovered from the earlier nerves into a more relaxed position; shoulder slumped down with his knees slightly bent. "I'm Kinyota, Akira. Are you new employees too?"

Then, the idea formed in mind right then, pointing to the boy with vigor and a toothy grin. "You'll be the chef!" Akira had only stared blankly at her words before nodding his head, almost as if he really wasn't paying that much attention. She could hear the collective sighs behind her and she whipped her head to the group, glaring sharp daggers in their direction, "Hey! I hired you people, didn't I? And I don't have the school system to stop me from **creating** **worse nightmares to your fragile hearts.**"

At her words, there was a small, slow collective nod.


	2. Course 1: A Regular

As you start reading this, you'll probably notice that this is slightly different from where I left off. Every other chapter I plan it to be a separate one-shot that relates to the storyline, but just focuses on one characters, like below. These one-shots will probably be a bit more serious than the main chapters.

This first one is centering on Kagura and an experience shared at the restaurant.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any characters mentioned in this story. They belong to Kiyohiko Azuma and ADV Films.

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She met the woman in one of the earliest days of the restaurant, one of our first customers. The woman was a cheery one, somewhere along her early to mid fifties, soft wrinkles adorning her chalky white face that seemed hardly noticeable despite her young age. Her hair had only seemed to begin to lose its color, always tied back neatly in a bun or tight ponytail. She was petite, only a few inches shorter than her with always the nicest clothes on. The smile towards her was always warm and welcoming.

Kagura wasn't sure how Yukari attracted someone as welcoming as her. The first time she had spotted her at one of the booths, she thought for a moment that this was her aunt or something sitting there. The relative seemed to be able to put up with the combined rowdiness of her and her father decently enough and with Yukari barking out orders that could be heard through the roof, it was no wonder how anyone managed to squeeze into the restaurant.

Nonetheless, she kept her questions to herself and smiled at the woman as welcoming as she could, greeting, "Hi, could I start you with a drink today?" just as she spoke to any other customer that managed to pass through the doors. The woman had shocked her however, with a gracious smile and a nod of the head.

"Oh just some tea, dearie, thank you," suddenly, she began thinking that maybe she was more of a grandmother than her aunt. It was such a gentle tone, soft, and quiet. She tried to keep herself from thinking about it too much, but came to ordering the food, the woman seemed to have only opened up to her even more. "What's your name?"

The college student glanced up curiously, raising an eyebrow curiously. "Kagura," she muttered after a moment. It was just an old woman; she didn't think it would hurt just giving her name. The stranger seemed satisfied with this, a nice nod of the head as she sipped at her hot tea.

It didn't take long before the woman came again, sitting at the same spot as before. Each time, Kagura felt compelled to speak more to her and soon enough, they were conversing to the regular, just after a week. It was always the same: "Hey, how've you been? The dog hasn't torn up the yard too much, has it?" She had a nice dog, one that she looked over on the woman's cellphone on one of her visits. It was a golden retriever, fur a bright gold and an equally warm face as his owner. His name was "Taiyou(1)," a strange name, but was fitting for the dog.

It was such a surprise the amount she knew about the woman within a few weeks. She was a good encouragement in the sports field she was going into, a former swimmer in her prime. She mentioned that she was going to go into pro if it weren't for an accident, something that the woman didn't specifically describe. Her life seemed full, but as Kagura noted, her regular seemed awfully alone. She never came in with anyone else. The brunette would've asked, but it seemed so out of place for her to speak.

So, for the time being, she provided company for her regular, even as there was one thing she never knew. She never knew the woman's name. It was a strange thing to just suddenly realize one day as she absent-mindedly washed the dishes, trying to occupy herself for the slow day. The faucet water was warm under her tan skin and for the moment, she kept her thoughts centering on that.

Until she heard the kitchen doors flap open. Her head shot up for a moment, glancing into the blue eyes of her friend, Sakaki. "Yo!" As usual, the girl nodded in response until the swimmer heard the pattering of feet, tiny paws on the tile floor. Her gaze fell lower and spotted golden fur of a dog that she had seen so many times before. "Huh?"

"A man came today," Sakaki began to explain. She could hear almost a hint of sadness in her tone, something that didn't sound so good right now for the poor dog. "Said he was looking for you, but you were running an errand. Apparently, Ieyasu-san died yesterday…"

"Who?" she asked blankly, cocking her head to the side as she removed her hands from the sink.

"… I'm… not sure, but the man said that you were to keep the dog." Sakaki patted the retriever's head with a small smile, but Kagura couldn't share her sentiments. Instead, she knelt down to the dog's level as he wagged his tail, as if knowing that she would be responsible for the dog now.

With a sigh, she scratched Taiyou's ear, the dog's head leaning in to her touch happily. She seemed to smile better towards him. "Hello Taiyou."

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(1): Meaning "Sun."


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